Nest life
by Hergotzer
Summary: What happens when a man chooses to leave humankind behind and leave to live on an alien planet? And what about if that planet has some xenomorphs on it and he happens to safe one?
1. Chapter 1

**_Prologue_**

_"It is human nature to help those who are in need of it. A person who can't feel sympathy is no human."_

Unknown

He woke up with a same feel what you get if you took one or two beers too much last night. What was it called again? Hangover. Yeah, it felt like hangover, except he hadn't taken any alcohol and last night where he had been conscious was about 1.5 years away. He opened his eyes and was greeted with a plain, calm male human face.

"Good morning, sir. How was the cryo-sleep?" It asked with emotionless voice. he blinked few times and stood up. The human was actually an android, which he referred "Rick". It had bugged out long time ago, which gave it a bit more personality. He took his clothes from the locker and left the room. He went to the bridge. He was on a one-man ship, called "Equator", which he had bought. He had left humanity, because he was done with humans: All those wars, poverty, hunger and other problems. And nobody gave a shit about it. Earth was lost long time ago, everybody knew that, and humans at their hunger reached for the stars, only to destroy those worlds too. He had left to live alone, as he had no family or friends. He was angry to humankind. Not that he believed that all the humans were the same, no, but he didn't want to live in a corrupted society.

"Computer, why did you wake me up?" He said aloud. He knew the reason, but he wanted to hear it himself.

"**I have found a habitable planet, and arrived here, like you ordered me. We are now in orbit around a thus far unknown planet, which I have named: Pasec. The planet has breathable atmosphere, is 83% covered in water and has live on it. Resembles Earth from Prehistorical era."** So he was here. He had found a new home for himself. He looked at the planet from his screen: It was indeed very similar to Earth, when there still was live on it. Clouds covered big areas of it, and he could even see a hurricane whirling over some islands.

"How log till landing, Rick?" He asked. The android walked next to him and answered:

"About three hours. Go and eat something, you haven't used your mouth in one and a half year." It said and pointed towards a screen on the wall. He walked at it and pressed "Breakfast". In no time, there was a bowl of porridge in front of him with a glass of water. Nothing too exotic. He took the bowl and sat on the seat. The planet was closing, and soon he would be walking on it.

There was a small _Thump _as they landed. The landing pads locked and the ship's engines shut down. He ran the scan; Air was breathable, indeed and there was no any living creatures close to the ship, so no danger. He packed some food, first-aid pack and his trusty plasma rifle. Who knew if he would need it, this planet was totally new. Then he jumped on the hover-bike and opened the hangar doors He saw the most stunning scene so far: Plains of grass and in the distance there was some forest and even farther some mountains. He could see something flying in the sky far away. He looked around: The flora was like some kind of Earth's prehistorical plants. The air smelled clear and fresh, unlike Earth's. Sun was high, but it wasn't too hot. He looked around before setting off.

First at all, he needed to find where he was going to make his home; it had to be close to a big water source because of his hydrogen generators, and it had to be somewhere open so it was easier to get into, but close to a forest so he could get something to eat. looking around he noticed that those kinds of spots were usual; he had to just choose the best place. And there was a lot of places to choose. Well, better visit them all.

Around 4 Pm, when he was flying over a small plane with random bushes here and there and small hills, he heard it: A high scream of fear and another, louder roar. It came behind a hill he was passing by. He stopped and jumped off the bike. He ran on top of the hill, and he saw something he didn't yet know would change his life: A huge, maybe 15 feet long creature with four feet and with tendrils coming from its head creature was chasing a small, black creature with long tail and long, curved head. A xenomorph. He had never seen one alive, but had heard many stories of them: they habit almost every planet with life, and are some nasty things. At least half of the stories are made up, and from the rest only about tenth is from real survivors. Even though he knew what it was, the whole scene was sad: that little xenomorph had no way defending itself, an from the size it was, it hadn't even grown up yet.

"For the love of-" He said and ran for the bike. He grabbed the rifle and then returned on top of the hill. He was just able to see the xeno run into a hole on the ground, and its chaser began digging it up. He lifted the rifle and too his aim. He smirked before pulling the trigger. There was a small _TZZUP! _as the magnets inside the rifle accelerated the plasma and shot it. The creature let out a small surprised whimper before falling down dead. He put the rifle on his back and began walking towards the scene.

When he was just some tens of feet away from the hole, the xeno jumped out of it. It looked around and was its former threat dead. Then it noticed him. It looked at the body and him few times, and then understood what had happened. It was still alarmed, but he was able to see from its pose that it was curious of him. He was curious of it too. Slowly, it crept towards him, until it was just mere twenty feet away from him. He had stayed put all the time. Moving could scare it. It studied him with its... well, it had no eyes, but it looked at him. He studied it too; it was very different then what he had seen before: it had some kind of armor covering its head and he could see small second pair of arms under the bigger ones. It also had a bit different pose and body structure. When it looked at his feet, he saw that it had got a big, half-moon shaped scar when it had escaped that thing. It didn't look serious, but it would leave a mark. Then, it looked straight to his eyes, and lowered its tail. Somehow, it took away all of its scariness. He came to a conclusion that it was its way of showing peace. He too lowered his gun to the ground and let his hands to be visible. It looked at him some time, until it began slowly pacing towards him.

When it was just some feet away, he slowly lifted his hand and reached forwards. The xeno didn't stop, but lowered a little. Then, it stopped his hand just inches away from its forehead. It could easily bite his hand off, now. If it wanted, it could even kill him in a blink of an eye. then, it took one small step and let him touch it. Its skin was somehow rubbery and smooth. It was first wary, but he could see that it liked to be touched. Surely it was lonely. Then, after just some few moments, it turned and ran away. He looked behind it and then shrugged. He felt good for helping it out. It seemed clever, unlike that thing he had killed. He looked at it again. It was very similar to Earth's lion, except it had reptilian features and its skin was grey and green colored. He turned away and returned to the bike.

He returned to the ship late. He had looked around and found the place he thought was perfect. Now he just had to show it to Rick, and it could tell if the place was indeed good for them. He opened the hangar, and parked the bike. When he arrived to the bridge, Rick just stood out of its charging station.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" It asked. He inserted the bikes memory station to the computer and it began loading the map the bike had made as he cruised around.

"Yup, and tomorrow, we are going to get there and have a good look at it. But now, I'll have my dinner and go to sleep. I'm dead tired." He said and went to the machine. It gave him some soup and a glass of milk. He ate and went to the bed. Something was giving him a weird feeling of happiness, but it wasn't because he had found a good place for home. It felt like he had found something bigger.

He woke up next day full of energy. Rick was already up and packing the things it was going to need on the bike. He dressed up and went to the hangar, and was greeted by Rick who was sitting on the bike.

"Are you ready? I've been waiting here for 10 minutes and 37 seconds already." It said with a hint of annoyance in its voice. He smiled and jumped to the controls. He opened the hangar wirelessly and and sped off.

They arrived to the plot fast. It was already about 11 Am and the sun was rising. There was a herd of some small animals in the distance. He climbed off the bike and Rick followed. The place was a plain with short grass with some hills here and there, a lake just some hundreds of meters away and a forest/jungle about same distance to the other way. Rick took some devices from the bike and began measuring different things he didn't even care to know. He wanted to know if he could live in here. After some beeping, Rick stood up.

"This area is suitable. We need to go and see that lake and forest too." It said and began walking towards the lake. He followed. He was no help right now, but he was the one who needed the home, and so he had to go with it. After some walking they reached the lake. The herd of what he now saw were bull-like creatures walked away from them, and they were left alone. Rick walked t to the water and sunk a small device in the water. It held it there for some time, and then it pulled the device out. It looked at the screen and stated:

"Water is safe, but it needs some filtering to be drinkable. That isn't a problem." It then turned and began walking back towards the way they had came. They passed the bike and continued towards the forest. When they reached it, it stopped and turned to see him.

"You should stay here. No one knows what can hide in there. I can take care of myself if I need to, but you can't." It said and turned again. It was the same to him. He stood there for some time but then got tired and sat down. The forest seemed very dense. He couldn't see even 10 meters before the trees blocked his view. Nothing moved in there, but he could hear Rick moving in there. Then he came back.

"Good news: this forest consists all but one kind of trees what we need. We can use others in stead, if we need, so there is no serious problems. This area is good for building." It stated and waited for his decision.

"Well let's get back to the ship then, and move it her so we can start!" he said and waited for Rick to move before following.

They flew the ship to the plain and began building. They had taken some machines with them, the same machines what colonists used. It still took about a month for the building phase to even start. During that, he looked around and studied the lifeforms of this planet. All species seemed to be reptilian, although some differences to Earth was; many had fur, and even more had feathers. It was like all the species of Earth was here, except that they were all reptile versions. He also killed some of them, to see which were good to eat. he wasn't going to survive with the ships food for long. He used a hand-held scanner to see any possible poisonous or dangerous species, but found none. There was very few predators, and even those few were lone wolfs. When the house's walls were ready, he had already studied also the plants close by: there was no substance for salt or pepper close by, so he was going to need use the ship's store for those. He never saw any xenos during this time; he had almost forgotten that small alien but every night, his thoughts came back to it. Somehow, thinking of it got him to a good mood. He had saved it, true, but still he felt that he had done something more. He always slept well when thinking of it.

The house was almost ready when he saw first signs of xenos. It was about half a year after his landing, and he had become familiar with his surroundings. First he felt like someone was looking at him when he was close to the forest, but saw nothing. Then, he became noticing claw-marks on the trees and dead animals. All of them had a hole in their chest, if they had one. Fortunately, all those were far away of his home, but he still made some precautions; he manufactured some simple turrets around his home, which he enabled for the night. It continued for some time, until suddenly, it stopped. Except for the feeling of being stared. Now, though, he felt it always when exiting the house. He always took his rifle with him, just to make sure. But he saw nothing unusual, neither he saw any marks of xenos. But when he went farther, he found those claw markings again and dead animals. He chose to map the unsecure areas and was surprised that the area the xenos moved was around his home, but it stopped some hundreds of meters away from it. His house was surrounded by an area where the xenos seemed to live. He didn't want to see them, but he wanted to know why they acted so weirdly. Almost like they purposely stayed away from him. But they did know he was there, as he felt all the time that he was observed.

It was almost a year from the first landing on the planet when he finally saw one again. And he felt no fear from seeing one. He saw its head looking at him from the forest, but when it saw it had been noticed, it ran away. It had seemed like a normal xenomorph, not like the one he had saved. They acted very weirdly. He had read that the xenos would kill anyone without thinking it more. But these stayed away. Why? They had had their chances to attack, but still, nothing. Absolutely nothing. He didn't want to live in confusion, and began looking for them. Not sure why, he felt that this was right thing to do. Surely they would kill him if they found him, but he wanted to have some danger in his life. So, he began taking treks to the forest, deeper and deeper.

After some days, he began seeing more xenomorphs: now, they weren't running away if he noticed them, but they still stayed away. He never saw one properly, only its head, but he knew that it wanted to him do something. He was unsure how he knew that, but it was waiting for him to do something. After he had been looking for the answer for a week, he found something: a cave in the middle of the forest, which was covered in the substance the xenos made their nests out of. He wasn't mad enough to go in. He marked the place on the map and ran away. He was suspecting to hear some chasing behind him, but nothing happened. He looked behind him. There was nothing chasing him. He was about to look forwards when he hit his head to something and fell to the ground, unconscious. Hie final thoughts before blacking off were:

"They know I'm here. I think they are going to die here. Not that I'm scared of death, but there is better ways to go."

**_Author's notes:_ **New story! Thanks to an anonymous reader who gave me the idea of this story! For those who see this and had read my other stories: This means that the update speed may slow down a lot, as now I have two stories to write. Please review and tell me what you think!

_Hergotzer_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Families**_

_"All creatures form families. Some stronger than others."_

He woke up in dark. He opened his eyes but still saw nothing. He felt something warm and hard under him. He remembered how he had hit something, and logically, the xenos had found him. Why wasn't he cocooned? That's what xenomorphs do to their hosts, right? He slowly stood up and tried to see in the dark. There was a faint glow coming from all around him, from the walls. He examined them closely; they were made of that weird dark substance what he had seen from the pictures. He had heard than that was how they made their nests. _Oh good_. He was in their nest. So he was pretty much dead. Except the fact that he wasn't cocooned. Still, why? He slowly began finding his way out.

In some point he noticed that his eyes got used to the darkness and he was able to see better. He was in some sort of tunnel web, which resembled a labyrinth. He saw no xenomorphs at all. Where were they all? Sure he would had been noticed already. Now he understood. They were playing with him. Making him get scared and then finally finishing him off. His heart began pounding wildly. Anytime he would hear hissing behind him. He was surprised to hear something else: tapping. Rhytmical tapping. He looked around, but saw nothing that would be able to do that voice. The voice was coming from his behind and front. Then, the sound ceased. What he did hear was a silent _thud_ _thud thud..._ Something was closing. Certainly a xenomorph coming to kill him in some brutal way. He stayed put. Maybe the xeno was not coming for him, and would pass. No. He saw the familiar head of a xenomorph appear at the other end of the tunnel. And it was looking straight at him. Anyone would had ran, but he knew it was futile. He didn't move at all, even when the xeno began walking towards him. Then it stopped right in front of him. It looked at him, studying. He swallowed. The xeno was bigger than he as, and surely could slaughter him. Then, with a swift movement, it pressed its hand on his forehead.

It didn't hurt. He had his his head badly, and still it didn't hurt. He looked at the xeno's face; it wasn't aggressive, more like... worried. It stepped closer and began examining him. He was puzzled: what was it doing? He should be already dead, impaled by its tail or his skull crushed. But no, it was looking him like it was looking for injuries! After some time, it seemed pleased and backed off. He looked at it some time, until it shook his head to the other end of the tunnel. Did it want him to follow it? He didn't have any options, and began walking. The xenomorph followed behind him.

After just some walking, they became to a clearing. It was a big room, with some oval things all over the ground. Eggs. So this was what they were going to do to him. Make him a host. He stopped, but was pushed forward by the xenomorph. So this wasn't their stop. They went to another tunnel, and soon emerged into another, even bigger room. First he thought that there was nothing inside the room, until the wall moved.

A huge xenomorph, which seemed to be stuck on the wall. A Queen. It had a huge armored chitin covering its head, forming a crown. It had four arms, like the xeno he had helped long ago. It rose so it was able to see him. Something like a smile crept on its face. It slowly made a bowing gesture, which was when his heart skipped a pulse: The queen had a faint scar on top of its head, forming a half circle. He stared at it. This was the same xenomorph he had saved a year ago. The Queen lifted its head and this time, it sure smiled. Not grinned, smiled. He looked around the chamber; There was a huge amount of xenomorphs around the room, some even hanging from the ceiling. All of the xenomorphs of this nest.

He looked back at the Queen. It was smiling to him and had tilted its head slightly. He stepped cautiously a bit closer. It didn't seem to protest. Then he took another step. And another. He was just couple of meters away from it when it suddenly reached at him and grabbed him from he waist. It pulled him towards it and then, hugged him. He didn't even understand what was happening. The Queen was hugging him. It was a lot bigger than he was, its smaller arms just as big as his. Not knowing what else to do, he returned the embrace. He heard it purr slowly. After a while, other xenos began purring too. He speechless.

Finally the Queen let him go and gently lowered him to the ground. He was too struck to stand so he immediately fell and just sat on the ground. The Queen was looking at him and he was looking at her. He wasn't going to be killed. The Queen then made a quick gesture with its hands and all the other xenos left the room. He was now alone with the Queen. He slowly stood up and walked towards it. He lifted his arm and continued walking. Then, just before his hand touched its forehead, it moved its head forwards and pushed against his arm. It was the same xeno. Somehow he just knew it. The Queen began purring loudly as it moved its head up and down. Then he began slowly stroking it, and its purring rose in pitch.

They stayed there for some time, him stroking it. At some point, it had began stroking him too, and had began playing with his hair. He didn't know why, but it felt safe in here, inside this room, with the Queen. Then he slowly backed off.

"Umm... Uhh... You're welcome. From that I saved you, I mean." He said to it. Stupid! It couldn't understand him! Or could it? Like it knew what he was thinking, it nodded. He looked at it amazed.

"You understand me?" He asked. It nodded again and smiled. He blinked few times just to make sure this was real. Still here. So he was with a xenomorph Queen, which didn't want him dead, was his friend and also understood his words. Okay. Check.

"Umm... I hope you really aren't going to kill me. Are you?" He asked. It made a voice resembling laughing and shook its head. He sighed relieved.

"What about the others? Like... those smaller ones?" He asked. It shook its head again. Then he remembered that it was a Queen.

"Are they your... umm... children?" He asked. It nodded.

He spent the rest of the day inside the nest, not even remembering the outer world. It was some place like a dream. All the other xenos acted very passively towards him except the Queen, which seemed to like him more than enything, except maybe her nest. He remembered his home though when he heard his stomach protest. How long had he been away? Rick was certainly wondering where he had gone. He tried to find the main chamber, and was lucky this time. The Queen was smiling, like always when he was close.

"I'm sorry, but I need to leave. I promise to come back tomorrow, though. I need to go and eat something. I haven't eaten anything since lunch." He explained to her. She shook her head.

"I need to go. I can come back-" She silenced him by pressing her index finger on his lips. Then she tried explaining something with her hands, but he didn't understand. It only looked comical.

"I don't understand what you are trying to tell me. You let me go home and then..?" He asked. She seemed to sigh and then tried again a little slower.

"Oh, you want me to stay here over night? Like, come back after I've eaten?" He asked as he thought to understand. She nodded looking relieved. He could almost swear her say "That's what I tried to tell you!". She let out a shriek and soon a xeno appeared. It looked at the Queen before setting off. Then the Queen pointed first at him and then at the xeno. He understood and left to follow the xenomorph.

After countless of turns and tunnels, they got outside. The xeno who had shown him the way left immediately. He looked around. He was again at the forest. He set off towards his home.

"Where have you been?" Rick asked him. He smiled knowingly and shrugged.

"At places." He didn't want to tell anyone about the hive, not even Rick. He wanted to keep it as a secret. Also, because Rick was an android, it wasn't going to get suspicious, and follow him. It would settle with the fact that he didn't want to tell and never ask about it again. When he was waiting for the meal to cook, his thoughts were at the hive. He knew he should loathe and be afraid of xenomorphs but for him, it felt like he had found his... family again. He was so in thoughts that when the meat of an animal he had shot yesterday was getting overcooked, he almost didn't notice. He took the pan from the stove and took the potatoes (Or something like that, they were almost identical to Earth's potatoes) from the oven. He ate fast and then began his way out.

"Are you going off again? May I ask you where you go?" Rick asked.

"No." He said and tried to leave again.

"Are you going to ever tell me?" It asked. He anted to get back already!

"Maybe." He said and shut the door. He ran to the forest and tried to remember the way to the nest. Of course he had to forget the tablet and its map home! He almost went back home, but then he saw a familiar dark, curved head upside down hanging from the tree. The xenomorph was looking at him and then jumped down. It seemed to be a little older than the other xenos, as it was a lot bigger than the others. It studied him for some time before setting off with enough slow speed for him to follow.

In no time they reached the nest. The xeno patted his shoulder and left back to the woods. That was a weird gesture. He shrugged and entered the nest. After a couple of times he found the main chamber. The Queen had fallen asleep, and was curled so that she looked like the walls of the hive. If one didn't know what to look for, he wasn't going to see her. He got an idea and slowly closed her. When he was close enough, he bent down and went under her. Then he patted her from her right shoulder and quickly went to her left side. She moved a little but didn't wake up. He tried again, but was grabbed by her smaller arms during he was trying to get to her other side. She gently lifted him to the level with hers.

"You knew I what I was doing, didn't you?" He said grinning. She nodded and hugged him maybe a little too hard.

"Could you... let me go? I can't... breathe." He said to her. She immediately ended the embrace and lowered him down looking apologetic.

"I missed you too. Just remember that I'm a bit more fragile, okay?" He said to her. When she didn't seem to answer, he began stroking her forehead, an act she seemed to like a lot. She began purring and smiled.

"I'm fine, you see? Now, I think we should talk, or do something similar. I want to know more about you." It was hard to understand her, but in the end, he managed to understand these parts of her story: After he had saved her, she had left to find a proper place to start a nest. By coincidence her nest was close to the place he chose to make his home. When her children found him, they told her about him, and she ordered him to be left out, he was not going to be food or a host. He still found out and began searching for them. She didn't want to interfere his life more, and tried to hide her nest from him. He had indeed been under a close watch all the time, and when he had ran away and hit a branch, she had chose to help him. She didn't tell him how she had healed him, which was weird. By her posture she made during that part of the talking, it was something a bit embarrassing, so he chose to not ask more about it.

He told her his story, how he had left Earth and tried to find another planet to live on. It was pure coincidence that he had landed on the same day that she had been close to be killed. She had no memory of her birth, but she remembered that she had in some point been noticed by that lion-like creature and it had began chasing her. After some time, he was able to read her sign language pretty well, at least well enough to understnd the basic meanings behind different gestures.

_"You haven't told me your name. What is it?"_ She asked.

"William, but everybody who knew me called me Will." He said. She made a weird new sign.

"What was that?" He had never seen her do that sign before.

_It's your name. I made it into my language." _She answered. He repeated the sign. It was a mix of three moves, which were easy to learn.

"What about your name? Is there any way you can tell it to me?" He asked. She thought a moment before shaking her head.

"_But I can tell you it in my language." _She told him and made a new gesture. It was five moves, and a little harder than his name. When he got it, she smiled.

"_You_ _called me as a tree, rock and even a worm before you got it." _She signed him. He apologized and then sat in front of her.

"Why are you stuck there? Why won't you move around?" He asked. She looked down before signing:

_"I have to. I lay eggs, and the organ making those eggs makes it impossible to move. The wall here is only because it supports the organ." _Oh. So that was why she hadn't moved at all. That was rough. He tried to lighten her up a little.

"I couldn't not notice that this sign language of yours seems to base on actual vocalizations. Should we try to get me know what each of those signs mean?" She seemed to like the idea, and let him start. Will had to say some words in English, and she translated. Then he cut the word in parts and said each one in order. The signs seemed to consist both syllables and letters. For example, word "Spaceship" was signed: Spa-ces-h-ip. She also told him that they had their real own language and that she was signing him in English. See couldn't answer how she understood English though. She tried briefly to teach him Xenomorph, but it was futile: it was far more complex that any other language. She also told him that xenomorphs use a mix or gestures, poses, voices and even telepathy to talk to each other.

In the end, he was able to change most of the signs she made into a voice. When they didn't talk, he spent time translating different words to their sign language. Then he remembered that he hadn't yet found out how to pronounce her name. He recalled her name in signs, and translated it.

"Celeste." He said. She looked at him surprised.

"Your name is Celeste, isn't it?" She nodded. He smiled.

"That's a beautiful name. Suits you." She was silent for a second before signing.

_"Thank you. Nobody has ever told me that. Actually, you are the first one talk to me who isn't my child." _She smiled and then seemed to remember something.

"_I think we should go to sleep already. It's late." _Will only now felt how tired he was. He already felt how his eyes began to shut.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Where do I sleep?" He asked. The nest was warm everywhere, how, he didn't know nor did he care right now. She giggled really, giggled which sounded very weird from a xenomorph, even more from a Queen.

_"Here, of course. I want to know where you are at all times if possible. Come here." _She said and patted next to her. Because of his sleepiness he didn't question her a bit too intimate offer and walked next her. She somehow lowered herself enough so she was able to lie next to him. He slowly lied down next to him, and she pulled him gently closer, not too close though. Then she put her both hands of this side over him and he fell asleep.

_**Author's notes:** _Ok, so that's Chapter 2 done! I'll finish my next chapter from Deep in Minds before starting the next one in this story, so there may be some time before the next chapter. Review, please. I like to read them. I'm going to rise the length of the chapters by time, so be prepared for a lot of reading!

_Hergotzer_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hard Dicussions**_

_"What is love? It is something special, as animals seem to not feel it. So far phrase "Love is blind" seems to count only humans. But why? Are we special? Or is it because we haven't yet met another sentient species?"_

It was warm. And cozy. And... actually, not that soft, but still comfortable. He opened his eyes an was greeted with Celeste's a little creepy smile. How had she been able to persuade him to sleep so close to her? He was tucked a bit too close to her and she was keeping him there with both of her right arms.

"Could you let me go? I think this is a bit too close to me." She slowly rose her arms so he could stand up and walk around a little. He noticed that he was now fully was completely accustomed to the near perfect darkness down here. He could perfectly see Celeste's chamber now; it was large, of course but it had a lot of small holes in its walls. No idea for what. He heard her, still dizzy from sleeping, rising from her lying position. Not that she was able to lie down, she was fixed to the wall, but she was able to lower her down so it was close to lying. He turned around to face her.

She was beautiful, in a weird way. Not in human standards, but in a same way one would say a cheetah beautiful. Graceful. That was the word he was looking for. Easily bigger than he, maybe 15 feet tall and with a huge crest attached to her long curved head. She was black like a shadow, and her biomechanical look gave the final touch to her mysterious appearance.

"_How did you sleep?" _She signed slowly and smiled weakly. He could tell why; he was a mess.

"Pretty well, I guess. First time sleeping with a xenomorph, so I don't know what to compare to." She smiled wider and then quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"_Enjoyed it? Knew it. I think you were comfortable; soft and warm." _He heard some voices behind him. He looked around and was scared half dead as a small octopus-like creature ran towards him. The facehugger then stopped just some feet away from him, seemingly to study him. Then, it jumped, but not on his face but on his hand and wrapped its tail tightly around it. It did look strange; it had no visible eyes like xenos, no mouth nor any other facial features. In fact, it seemed to lack head and all the other humanoid parts. It had about ten bony finger-like limbs, which were, like its tail, tightly clasping his hand.

"What is it doing? And why it didn't attack me?" he asked Celeste. She hummed amused and signed:

"_She likes you. They all do this to me when possible. It's their way of showing that they like someone. And it didn't attack you because I asked it to not to. And because you carry my scent. Pat it, they like it." _He carefully patted its main body and it began to purr. Soon it released its grasp and crept away. He didn't want to see one again. It had been peaceful, but their appearance just...

They spent the morning mostly talking about their species, explaining them to each other. Her species was a huge pile of rules, which they all obeyed instinctively.

"_...Queen is always the top priority, not even the nest come before her. The one responsible of protecting the Queen is all of her children, except her Queens. And the one who is always close to her and is expected to protect her always, is her mate, if she has one. If a Queen is to attack another nest, No one else except a Queen or her mate, who we call Prince, is allowed to kill another Queen. If any of these rules are broken, we instinctively want to punish ourselves." _She was amazed of his species; how fragile they were but how they were able to fill those weaknesses with their brainpower. She was very interested in humans' social behavior, which differed a lot from xenos'.

"_What about fighting? You have no physical power, I can see that, so how do you fight?" _She seemed interested about all of the machines and inventions of humankind.

"We use weapons. We have melee ones and ranged. Long time ago, one didn't even consider killing his enemy from distance. Nowadays, we have weapons which can kill one's enemies without weapon's user seeing his enemy. We humans use technology so powerful that we could destroy planets with just pressing one button. It scared me and I left. We humans, even though intelligent, are stupid in a way too. We have become better, but we are still dangerous. Fortunately, there haven't been wars in a long time. We looked forwards, but we looked too far away. We were destroying, slowly but surely, our own planet. When it was noticed, it was already too late. Now, none lives on Earth. It's a lifeless planet inhabited by robots and factories where they work." She seemed puzzled when he mentioned robots.

"We are able to make "life". We can turn lifeless matter into something that can do anything without a user. That's what we call a robot. For instance, we could turn the stone around us into a copy of you, which would be able to do everything you are capable of. But it wouldn't have heart, brains, emotions... Then there's AI:s, but they are something too complicated to explain." She nodded and then signed:

"_You are powerful when you have your machines and tools, but without them, you are weak. We are strong always. But again, when you have your weapons, we are weak against you. We are always... strong, but you are some times unbeatable, some times weak. We both have our own strengths. Now to change the topic; Have I told you that you really need to clean yourself?" _She grinned as he smelled himself and obviously didn't like the smell.

"I think I have to go home and take a shower. I'll eat something too, I'm getting hungry." She nodded hesitantly and signed him to leave. He smiled to her and left. It was a challenge to find the entrance but he finally found it some time later. The light of the outside world's sun was too much to him first but he was able to stand it and began his way towards his house.

"I hope sir had a good night, wherever he was. You seem happy, at least." A familiar voice called out from the living room as he opened the door.

"Morning to you too, Rick. I thought it wasn't a problem to you if I wasn't here with you. You're a robot." He said as he walked to the living room. Rick was sitting on the couch reading the news. Even if they were far away from mankind, Internet still worked. After revolutionary inventions in information transferring, Internet was now literally "_World _wide web".

"You seem happy but you certainly need a shower." it said and stood up. It almost pushed him to shower and closed the door. Sometimes Rick acted like a overreacting mother. He undressed and took a shower. The water was pleasantly warm and he would had liked to stay a bit longer, but his urge to get back to the nest was greater.

Rick was browsing its files. It had been easy to notice an alien smell on him, and even easier to get a skin contact with him. Then it had analyzed the particles which had come out of him. Not that it wanted to break his trust, but it was just... worried. It broke its programming, but it was the only word to picture what it was feeling. It was lost in thoughts when it saw a note that the search was done. And the result was a shock.

He walked out feeling better than ever. The feeling of clean had been forgotten, and now he remembered how it felt. Awesome. He walked past living room and prepared a lunch. He was stopped when Rick turned him forcefully around. Even if it didn't have feelings, it seemed angry.

"Why have you gone after xenomorphs?" The question got him off guards. Somehow it had found out. Now was his time to be angry.

"It's my thing, it isn't you business. I promise you that I'm not in danger." It still glared at him dangerously.

"If you go hunting them, you make a huge mistake. Not even a normal-sized patrol of Weyland-Yutani soldiers can kill even one of them, not much you."

"I don't hunt them, I-" He quickly shut up before told it more. It waited for him to continue. It was a small, awkward and tensed moment. Finally when it understood he wasn't going to continue, it said:

"If you really want to continue this whatever you are doing, you have to take me with you. At least I can protect you if they attack." Was there worry in its voice?

"No. It is my thing, and I can just shut you off if I need to, so stop talking, okay?" It tensed for a moment and then smiled at him.

"Now you can't do that. My programming of protecting you from the dangers is now more powerful than my programming to obey you. If you want to me not to come with you, you have to stay here." It grinned and then walked to the door and locked it.

"And only I can open this now. Well? It's your choice. I'm doing here what you ordered me to; protect you." It had done all this so fast that he hadn't been able to understand it all.

"You are keeping me here against my will?" he asked finally. It nodded. He was able to stay away from the nest for a day or two, but Celeste? He had no idea how long she was able to wait.

"Really, Rick, I need to go! If I don't, they'll come here!" It just grinned wider.

"Why would they come here? They don't even know where we are, I hope at least. And again, why would they come here if you didn't go? Come on, tell me already. You can't hide it forever." He thought his options for a moment before chose to tell it. Whatever if it it didn't believe him, at least he was going to get back and she wouldn't have to send the others.

"Ok, I think that you are not going to believe what I'm going to say, but I ask you to think; what actually would make this impossible. Okay?" he requested. If he hadn't known better, he would had swore that Rick seemed eager to hear his story.

"About a year ago, when we first came here, I went to explore the planet. During this journey, I saw a huge animal chasing a xenomorph. The scene was sad, in a way I still don't know, and I chose to help that xeno out. I shot its chaser with plasma rifle, and waited for it to notice that I had saved it. Soon, it did notice and came to me curious. It didn't attack, just studied me. Then it left." Rick had understood the story, and didn't even question anything. It gestured him to continue.

"Then I came back, and we started to build this home. Nothing really happened for a half a year but I still remembered that xeno I had saved. Then, I began noticing different hints of close-by xenos. I began to prepare, but they never attacked. Finally, from my curiosity, I ventured to the forest. I found their nest and ran. I hit a tree and fell unconscious." He had a small pause.

"Where is this nest exactly?" Rick asked.

"Sorry, but not going to tell you. Anyways, when I woke up, I had been moved inside the nest. I noticed that unlike usually when I hit my head, my head wasn't hurting at all. I began to find my way out of the nest. After some time a xenomorph found me. It didn't attack, but did something I was surprised to see; It gestured me to follow! I had no other options but to follow. After some walking we arrived to the center of the nest: Queens chamber. I thought that this was where I was going to die. But there never came any pain. Quite opposite, actually. This Queen hugged me! No, don't say anything, I was as surprised. It turned out that this Queen was the same xenomorph I saved a year ago, and it didn't so hate me nor want to kill me. Also, they are not just animals, Rick. They all have personalities, and they are able to communicate. They aren't able to speak, exactly, but they are able to use this sign-language. I learned a lot from them so. For example, the Queen's name is Celeste." the android was quiet. Then it smiled widely.

"Okay, so could you please now tell me the truth?" it said smiling.

"That was the truth! I said already that you should just believe me!" it rolled its eyes and sighed.

"So you are not going away. Not until you tell me the real story." Then it walked away and sat to the couch.

"It was the real- You know what? I think you are going to believe when she gets worried and sends her nest here to search for me."

"You really are mad aren't you?"

"No."

"I take that as a yes."

"Fuck you, Rick."

He waited. He had nothing much to do here. Rick had taken all of his tablets and stuff away so he wan't able to open any windows or doors. It had been almost an hour since he left the nest. Soon he should see dark figures coming towards the house. But after half an hour later, nothing had happened. He was getting worried. Would she actually danger her own children for a rescue mission? Did she really care that much? Yes. He was able to see one dark slender figure running towards the house from his bedroom window. He waved his hand towards her. She noticed and slowed hr pace. She arrived soon and tapped the window. When it didn't seem to open, she lowered her arms to the small button outside the window and pressed it. He had taught the meaning of buttons to Celeste, and it seemed that she had taught on to her children. The window opened with a small hiss.

"_Why didn't you come back? Mother was so worried that something had happened to you." _

"I was hold here against my will. And you can help me with one thing."

"Rick? Could you come here for a moment?" he shouted from his bedroom. He couldn't help it when he let out a little girlish giggle after he had said it.

"What is it? Have you made up a new story? Or are you ready to actually tell me what really is happening?" The android walked into the room and was greeted with Will sitting next to a xenomorph on his bed. Its eyes widened from surprise but it didn't do anything else.

"I told, they are my friends. Do you believe me now?" It nodded slowly and then stepped to the side.

"Door's open now. You may go. And I need some time to process all this data." He left the room and then the house. They walked with a quick pace; she was surely waiting. They reached the edge of the forest in no time and continued. He hadn't talked a lot with the other xenos, and they didn't want to either. They seemed to just accept him, nothing else. Maybe like him, but certainly not think him as a friend. Maybe they accepted him only because of Celeste. That was something grim to think of. _Think something else._ Now that he thought about it, he only was sure of Celeste's sex. What about the others? Were they like bees, all of them females? On a whim he ducked so he could see under the xeno he was following. He didn't know what to expect, they were aliens, and was so surprised to see an almost invisible slit. The xeno noticed what he was doing and turned around.

"_What are you doing?" _she signed. Will feared she was angry but nothing in her pose told him that she didn't like what he was doing. Quite opposite exactly. She seemed amused. He blushed a little, and she seemed to notice this and giggled. Then she turned around and continued walking. This time she walked more human-like manner, and actually waved her hips. Great, now she thought he was a pervert.

They arrived to the nest after some walking, which was a nightmare to him. She had walked all the way waving her hips so he had to stare. Not that he wanted. He had to ask some questions from Celeste after he had explained his lateness. The xeno ran inside the nest with a wave of her tail indicating good byes. He sighed and walked inside. This time he didn't get lost at all, but found the main chamber with no problems. Celeste was hanging from the wall looking like she was sleeping, but when she noticed him, she immediately stirred up and smiled to him. When he walked close enough, she lifted him from the ground and hugged him.

"_Where were you? I thought some animal had caught you!" _she signed to him but still smiled.

"I'm happy to be here again too. I wan't in danger, my... friend was just overprotective. It won't happen again, I promise." She nodded and hugged him quickly a bit harder before she lowered him down. When his arms were free he stroke her head slowly. She began to purr loudly. It sounded like a sound what a lion would make but it was higher.

_This is what I want this to be. It's so peaceful. _But he had to go on. He had to live; eat, speak, breathe... _Breathe?_ He hadn't breathed at all during this moment! He let out the air in his lungs and took some new air. He hadn't even noticed that he had stopped breathing. Then he remembered that he had some questions to ask.

"Celeste, are all of your children female?" He had asked it too straight. She seemed first a bit surprised but then smiled widely.

"_Why? Interested here are we?" _She let out a small giggle. He was unprepared and didn't say anything. Now she began outright laughing.

"_You are! Sorry, but this is just..." _

"I'm not interested! Or well, I am but not in that way! Celeste! Do you even hear me?" She nodded but wasn't able to sign anything from her laughing. Xeno's laughing is a bit different from human's but mainly the same. Finally she was calmed enough that she was able to sign again.

"Why is it so funny if I would be interested?"

"_We are natural enemies, that's why! It would be just so ironical! You may not understand our humor, but we do have one. And this is funny for me at least. Anyways, sorry. Yes, all of my children are indeed females. I only lay prince eggs every fifth cycle."_

"Cycle? What's that?"

"_We Queens aren't fixed to our nests all of our lives. That would be horrible. No, we have cycles, during which we lay eggs. Between cycles we are free to go where we want. And we can choose when to begin a new cycle. My cycle is closing to its end, I think." _Ok, so she was able to move soon, if he understood correctly.

"Does that mean you detach from the wall?"

_"Yes. I also shrink in size a bit. The main reason for the cycles is for us, Queens, to find ourselves a mate, which live's purpose is to protect us. There isn't any males here yet, I haven't began laying eggs for them." _

_"_Do you mean that your mate is probably going to be your own child?"

"_Yes?_ _What's wrong with that?"_

"Umm... Nothing. It's just one of these human-things."

"_You humans are weird."_

They didn't talk much for some time. There was couple random conversations but no any long discussions.

"_How much do you actually know about us?_" she finally asked.

"Well, you have acid blood, that's something everyone knows. Then you have another set of jaws, you have incredible speed, agility and strength and you spread with Facehuggers." he answered.

"_That's not much. You know very little about us actually. First at all, we share many traits with humans, a thing we have never understood. We also want to kill humans more than other animals. We live in a hive, which's leader is the Queen. We can feel emotions and we are not just killers. We have a society, just different from yours. Like I said, we share many traits with humans; mostly social features, but we have some things in common with our bodies. For example, we have bones, humanoid structure, we are usually bipedal, we have also human's reproductive parts... Oh. I know what we can talk about!"_

_"_Please, no."

"_I really don't understand you humans... Why not? I have no one to talk about this except you." _

"For us humans it's like a taboo. You don't talk about it except in special cases."

"_Isn't this one?"_

"Well... It's just... Well, first at all, you are different species, and also we usually speak about it with "Bros". Meaning I, for example, I am "allowed" to speak about this topic only with my brother or father."

"_Well, now you have to get accustomed to me. I'm curious. And you don't have to begin to undress, I've had enough knowledge from that area from my children who has been spying you."_ He blinked. He had been seen naked by one of her siblings? And she had told about what she saw to her? He couldn't stop a bright red rising to his face.

"_You don't need to shame yourself. Not here. I'm going to ask some things, and I would like to you answer them. Deal?"_

"Like I have options."

"_You don't. First question: Do you humans have this good feeling when you have sex?" _Straight to the worst huh?

"Yes. My question: Can you get pregnant like humans?"

_"No. Only Queen is able to get children. Question two: How does your kind show affection?" _

"Usually just saying it, but there is other ways too. There is giving flowers, going to dates, watching movies together... What about your kind?"

_"Protecting the other by all means possible, mating, cleaning each other, and then the usual: hugging, talking and so on... Not that that counts between us. Next question: when do you mature?"_

"depends on gender. Men somewhere 11-15 years old, women year or two sooner. You?"

"_I'm always mature. A Queen can begin her first cycle immediately after birth."_

"Do we really need to speak about exactly this topic? It may not be anything for you, but for me it's more awkward than you think." he asked. His face had gone from the red and it now just felt stupid and awkward to talk about this.

"_I know you don't like it, and I continued only to see you squirm in your discomfort. But if you really want to, I can stop." _

"Please do."

_"Okay, but what now?" _

"I could explain some human things to you. It would ease some things for both of us."

_"Ok. Go on." _

"Where should I start... Okay, first at all, as you have noticed, we have a lot of things we don't like to talk about. There's sexuality, religion..."

_"Religion?" _

"It's a word for a group which believes into something... godly. Not always, but most of the religions are based to the belief of afterlife, that when you die, your soul will live on."

"_Oh. Okay. Continue, please."_

"We humans are physically weak when compared to other animals. We can't run for long, we can't lift that heavy objects, we aren't fast and so on. But we are clever. We use our cleverness to make things which do those jobs for us where we aren't good at. Now we are faster, stronger, healthier. We live for 150 years old, we can literally destroy mountains, even planets. That's how we dominated our planet; by technology. But we became greedy and began to battle for resources. We even once almost destroyed ourselves. We may be intelligent, but not wise."

"_You certainly are small and weak-looking."_

"Can I continue?"

"_Sorry."_

"Our society works by many small "Hives", families. Usually there's from 3 to 7 persons per family, and many families make a society. We also democracy. When we want to choose about something, we vote. Option that gets the most votes wins and gets to be used. Every individual can choose what it becomes to depending on the chances. They can choose what they'll be doing when they mature. We call them jobs. They are equivalent to your nest's Warriors, Drones and so on. When we do our job correctly, we get paid with money. We use money to get something we need. It's like trading. We give the right amount of money, and the payee gives something I need, for example food. Then the person who got the money can use the money to get something useful for himself. And the cycle repeats forever."

_"Who came up with that idea? Seems very complicated."_

"I don't know. It's an old thing, that much I know. Anyways, we humans are social creatures, but we don't have to be close to other people. Some people even like to be alone."

"_What bout love between humans?" _

"Why do you want to talk about this so much?"

"_Because you don't like it, and I'm interested. Now could you answer my question?"_

"Okay... We humans have this phrase: "Love is blind." When we fall in love, it may be almost literally anyone. Someone others call ugly can be in someone's view beautiful. I haven't fell in love yet, and don't plan to. We are always shy about our feelings, and sometimes we aren't brave enough to express our feelings. We are very shy sometimes, and it's weird because we get scared in places we shouldn't and vice versa. If we finally are able to express what we feel, we wait for the person who we love to say what he or she feels."

"_How do you express your feelings then?"_

"We give flowers, we just say it, we ask for a date... there's countless different ways. When we have chosen a mate, as you would call it, we won't change it. If one does change his or her mate, it's seen disrespectful. Are you getting somewhere with this?"

_"No. I've just never seen humans, and if I would have, I wouldn't had talked to them. I'm curious." _He sighed. It was getting late, or at least he was getting sleepy.

"You know what, I don't care anymore. I would like to sleep now..." She smiled then and took something grey from somewhere behind her.

"_I noticed that you don't like to sleep on hard things, so I got you something soft to lie on. We are able to produce this silk-like substance which we use as a base for our nest. It's light but still very heat-insulated. It could work for a blanket for you." _She offered the grey cloak. It felt a bit rubbery but it wasn't unpleasant. When she let him try it, he was surprised that it didn't weight almost at all! It felt like he was holding solidified piece of air.

"Thank you. I think this is perfect." She smiled and signed:

_"I made it myself when you were gone. I wanted to give it to you when you came back, but I forgot." _He began to take off his clothes but paused as he remembered who he was going to sleep with. He chose to leave his shirt on for the night, so he wasn't wearing only his underwear. She lowered herself like lad´st night so that she was able to lie down. Then she moved her arms so that he was able to lie next to her. He took the silk-thingy and lied down. Then he covered himself with the blanket and felt immediately warmth surrounding him. She hadn't lied. it was warm. She lowered her arms and tucked him closer.

_What a weird life I'm living here. _Then he fell asleep.

**_Author's notes:_** FINALLY! A new chapter! Once problems with a computer and then a writer's block. Anyways, I've gotten over it and I'm back! In the next chapter Will is going to find something a bit unpleasant but also important. And yes, more humans on their way, but that's for the spoilers. I'm having exams a lot now, and they are going to slow me down a bit, but if I stop writing, I'll inform. As long as I don't say it myself, I have not abandoned this story. I have a lot of ideas still, and most of them coming soon. Thank you for waiting.

Review, Follow, Favorite!

_Hergotzer_


	4. Chapter 4

**_History_**

_"How did we humans come here? We are so different from other living creatures that one could call us alien."_

He had strange dream of being inside a dark maze and having a feeling that something was chasing him. He didn't know how the dream would had ended as he woke up. It was warm and cozy. He opened his eyes and first thought he was still inside that maze, but then remembered where he rally was. He didn't see much, the silky blanket was in the way. But he could feel that Celeste's arms were still around him, and by the sounds next to him, asleep. Did xenos snore? It seemed, or more like sounded, like it. He carefully moved the blankets so his head was out. There was no one in the chamber in addition to them. They were alone. Not that he minded, he enjoyed to be with her. Even if she wasn't awake. He looked at her; she seemed so peaceful from the her usual self. Wonder if she dreamed? And if yes, about what? Probably hunting. Or running. Or creeping in the forest. He stayed there staring at her for some time before she moved a little. And them a little more.

"Good morning, Celeste. Had a good night?" he asked her as she began to wake up.

"_Very well, thank you. It's fun to sleep with you. Or something like that. You're so soft, unlike me, or anyone like us."_

"Did you dream?" She was surprised from his question.

"_Yes, but I don't remember about what. Why do you ask?" _

"Nothing. You just seemed so happy when you were asleep. Had to be a good dream." She nodded slowly.

"_I guess so..."_ He could see that she was lying about her dream. She knew what it was about, but if it was so personal, he wasn't going to question her. She lifted her arm so he was able to stand up. He dressed up and looked around.

"Well, I think we should try make something to do. I can't just sit here all day, pardon me. Could I explore the nest?"

"_You should do that. I have also some things to do, mostly usual Queen's stuff that you don't need to know nor understand. If you need to ask anything or can't find a way back, just ask any of my daughters. They'll help you. I hope to see you soon again, though." _With that, he left the chamber.

The nest was pretty boring. There was just a lot of tunnels and chambers, most of which housed a lot of xenos. Some of them were asleep, some of them were doing something important for the nest, some of them were playing, and by playing, I mean chasing each other. But for him, there wasn't much to do. Until he found the end of the nest. It seemed that the nest was built in some kind of cave system, and they expanded when needed. Here, the walls were bare stone and it became fast too dark to see. He took his multitool and switched the lamp on. The tunnel where he was was straight, almost too straight for a natural formation. He looked at the walls. No, this tunnel was no natural. The walls were now perfectly smooth, like they were honed. He pointed the lamp to the tunnel. He couldn't see far, but he was able to see that the tunnel curved slightly downwards, but not too steeply.

He walked the tunnel for some time until he saw the light hit something. And it wasn't just some rocks, they were something artificial, but the amount of dust on it told that it was old and abandoned. His heart quickened its pace. _Guess I wasn't the first advanced life form on this planet after all. _He walked to the structure. Whatever it was, it was mostly buried under stone. There was just some square meters visible. He swiped off the dust. It was made out of something ceramic-looking, but its color was like brass, if its color was dimmed and then darkened. There was many weird shaped everywhere on the thing, some of them seemed to have a function, but most of them looked useless. He studied the object more; it was metallic, and certainly it was something mechanical. Then he noticed a different kind of pattern. It was a circle, and its coloring was a lot brighter that the rest's. He tried to swipe off the dust from it, but when he touched it, it began to glow bright yellow. There was a small hiss and a door what he hadn't noticed before opened. Without thinking it more, he stepped in.

_Surely there's nothing inside here. This thing has to be hundreds of years old to have that much dust on it. _He was in a corridor on which's walls there was a lot of the same patters which he had seen on the outside of the object. The corridor curved slightly and he wasn't able to see far, even in the bright light of the place. What was this thing exactly? He continued on until he came into a large room. And the scene made him speechless. Not that there was anyone to speak to.

The room was circular, and in the middle of it, there was some kind of a control surface. This was certainly alien, and even more, advanced alien stuff. He walked to the panel in the middle of the room. There was a smaller circle in the middle of the room. He stepped inside of it. Immediately the room hummed to life. He had seen a lot of sci-fi movies when he was young, but this was even better. After some humming holograms began to appear all around him, and then one closed in front of him. It was a simple circle with a weird, non-human hand's silhouette on it. _What bad can happen? _He put his hand on the hologram. He felt some tinkling but nothing else. The hologram disappeared and then nothing happened. The other holograms stayed, but there was nothing on them. They were blank.

_"_Ok... so what happens now?" he asked himself. Immediately after he had said this, one of the holograms moved in front of him and displayed some alien, pointy symbols and then became blank again. Had it acted because he had made a question?

"Umm... What is this place?" he asked. The same window again made some symbols and then cleared. So this thing understood him but he didn't understand it. Great. He looked around until he noticed a small hone on the floor. Some kind of a socket for... something. He smiled. Something where humans had been more advanced, it looked like. Just some years ago they had still used USB-ports and things like that, until there was an idea. A crazy idea, but an idea. He looked at his multitool. After he pressed few buttons on it, it extended a small tube of something slimy and green. It was really some insulating jelly, in which there was nanites which would connect to any port the tube was put into. Those nanites would then work like any wiring. He plugged the tube to the slot and waited. The multitool showed an error; whatever information there was, his multitool was unable to read it. He chose to download the data and read it later. There really didn't seem to be much else. There was no other doors nor buttons. And he didn't want to stay here for long. This place gave him creeps. It felt somehow just... evil.

He was back at the main chamber soon. Celeste was deep in thoughts and didn't first notice his return.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her. She looked around surprised and then saw him.

_"Nothing much. You were fast. Did you find anything?" _

"Yeah, I did actually. Did you know that at the end of one of the tunnels of your nest there's this weird structure? I went inside it. I found out that I'm not the first one on this planet who has advanced technology. But not that now. What happened when I was gone?"

"_I just lead my nest, nothing else. I just love my children. It's just a shame they don't have any real free will. Actually, one of my daughters told me that she had seen weird lights, like stars but it isn't day right now. Those lights disappeared later. But nothing else."_

"Well we have nothing to do now. What now?"

"_You haven't yet told me your story. What has happened to you?" _

_"_Hmm... I guess that's a way to spend some time. Ok... where should I start..."

_"Where did you born?" _

" I was born in USA, one of the biggest countries of Earth. Earth is my home world, the planet I come from. Once it was a wonder of nature, but we humans have destroyed it long ago. Anyways, I had pretty decent life, until Energy war broke out. Some of us call it the World War III. It was a huge war, and it opened my eyes, what humans really were. After the war I had had enough, and left. There isn't much to tell you. I had a usual life until... all this happened."

_"Well I don't know what a "Decent human Life" is like."_

"I explained the usage of money, didn't I? Well, my parents had good jobs so we had always enough money, I went to a good school, I had friends and so on. I moved out when I was 20 and got a job at the military. I went to war and lost many buddies, my family and almost my own country."

_"Who would be that stupid? What had those people done to you so you had to go to war?" _She didn't seem to understand the politics of humans.

"Well, our home was threatened, if we lost the war, I may had become homeless, so that's the reason I went to army. But I understand your point. I don't know why we fight like we do. During this war I understood that in the end, humans are selfish creatures. When I almost died, my best friend, the one who I trusted most, abandoned me and saved his own skin. Too bad he was shot to the head just mere seconds later. Had he helped me, that bullet would have never hit him. Our leader didn't care about us, he only cared of winning. He sent us to die out there while he sat safe underground sipping some wine."

_"What was this your friends name?"_

"Zarich. He was from somewhere else, I don't even remember where. I don't want to remember this, could we go on?"

_"Sorry, but I never understood how much you have actually seen death." _

"I know. We perceive you as monsters, but we are the killers. Anyways, the war ended, we won, but nobody thought it was any good. Everyone had lost friends, most of them also someone of their family. I was done. I left. There's not much to it. I thought that I could live alone for the rest of my life. Guess Miss Faith didn't agree with me."

_"And I'm glad about that. I'm here because of you, and you are my friend. I, like you, don't have any other friends. I have my family, but they don't count. They love me because they are my children. You like me because I am who I am. If I had no nest, we would have only each other. If you haven't understood it already, you're important to me. You're my only friend." _He had never thought it that way. She did indeed have a family, but no real friends. He had nothing, neither would she if she had no family. They were each other's only friends.

"Thanks, I guess."

_"You're welcome." _She hugged him very carefully, barely squeezing him. But it was a loving hug nonetheless. It persisted for a long time.

"Okay, this is getting awkward now." he said finally. She let him go and smiled.

"_I didn't think it that way. I think it was... good." _They looked at each other, or well, Will looked where he felt she had eyes. Finally his stomach interrupted the moment. He gave her a apologetic face.

"_Oh no you don't! This time you'll not go alone. I don't want that your "friend" to lock you up again."_ Two xenomorphs emerged from the tunnel from the right and stood up. They looked usual, except other one had more spiky look.

_"I've instructed them to follow you and rescue you if you get caught." _

""He won't do it again, I promise. And you don't need to protect me, I can actually take care of myself. Just remember I'm tens times older than you."

"_And still weak. They come with you or you don't go." _he sighed and left the chamber with the two xenomorphs. They didn't do anything during their walk to the house. When he opened the door, there was no Rick's mocking voice.

"Rick? You here?"

"You came back already? Oh well, I hope you had some good time, although I still don't understand how you can stand these-" Rick had walked downstairs and went quiet as it noticed that he had company. They both hissed at the android, but it didn't even flinch.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you. Anyways, I thought that if you came home only to eat, I could just make you lunch so you could be off faster. Even if I don't like this, I care about your happiness. And if you are happy with them, then I have to make sure you stay happy. You came soon this time and I hadn't even started! Sit down, and let me go and get something to eat." And it left the room. Both of the xenos stared at the kitchen for some time before understood it was no threat and began to explore the house. They were amazed from all the lines and perfect shaped of the house; nothing like what they had seen before. It was fun to watch them try to figure out what the television was for. After about half an hour, Rick appeared from the kitchen.

"Lunch is ready. Go on, it's not poisoned or anything."

"It's not that. I need you to do something. Look." He showed him the multitool.

"I found some alien structure. You can't go there, it's inside the nest, but I was able to download its data. It's not coded in any known human language, and I think you are the only one around here capable of translating it." It took the small device and looked at it.

"Any chances I could be allowed to visit the nest some day?"

"Not so much. The Queen didn't like it when you didn't let me go."

"You shouldn't wait me to say sorry. I did what I thought was the best. In Well, in that case, I have to get her trust some day, somehow. But it's not today. Today, you are going to eat what I have done for you." Even though it was an android capable of doing almost anything better than a human, it had no imagination. And no cook book. So the food was simple. He didn't want to insult it and ate quickly.

"I hope she'll let me inside one day. And have good time, I think you are going to have it."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh you don't know?" Rick smiled widely.

"If I had emotions, I would be most amused right now. I'm not going to spoil anything, just go." He didn't still understand but nodded and left the house. They were quickly back at the nest. He didn't know why, but he felt better when close to the nest, it felt... safer. And he was right about safety. How much saver could one be than surrounded with xenomorphs? Okay, not much safety there, but if those xenos were your friend? No harm was going to happen to him. His escorts went to their own ways and he went towards the main chamber.

"I'm back, Celeste! I hope I wasn't away too long this time." She smiled and hugged him.

"_Not at all, but still, try to be faster. Did this "friend" hurt you? Or annoy you?" _

"No, calm down. It's not a threat for me. It just wanted to protect me, it thought you were the dangerous ones."

_"It?"_

"Oh yeah, it isn't a living object. A robot actually. It's a human-looking machine, which can talk, think and speak. It's name is Rick. And he didn't apologize, but it hopes to get here some day." She hissed slowly.

_"It locked you away! Why should I let it come here?" _

"Because it was just making sure I was safe! It didn't know nor believe that you weren't dangerous."

_"But it still did it. It's not coming here. The end." _

"Oh, and another thing it said was I was to have "good time". Any idea what it meant?" She shook her head.

_"Maybe it is a fortune-teller?"_

"No, I don't think so. But it was able to find out somehow that I was seeing xenos, so maybe it has some kind of ability to see things. I don't know." She thought about something before she nodded.

"_Well, it's not our problem right now. It happened again. Those lights on the sky, they appeared again, and they stayed there the same time. Do you really have any idea what they are? I don't want any bad surprises anymore." _He thought about it. No, he had never heard of any "Lights on the sky".

"Did they move? Or do anything else weird?"

"_They did move slightly all the time to the north-west. Slowly, but it was noticeable. Nothing else really." _So not a star. What could it be then?

"_Actually, now that I think of it, those lights are very similar to the day you came here. I saw same light just a day before you saved me."_His heart sunk. It was possible. When his ship slowed down, the engines' light was possibly visible down here. And if that was the case, it meant that they were seeing humans' ships slowing down.

"I think I have an idea what they are, and it's not a good thing. They may be... ships. Things we use to travel. I got here with one. And if they are human ships, that means that they are planning to land here." Had she had eyes, they would had widened a lot.

"_Are you saying there will be more humans?" _He nodded. This planet was perfect for living. Why had he thought no humans would come and colonize it? Of course it was distant planet, but when had that stopped humans?

"I don't know when they choose to land, but it's somewhere near. We are now on the biggest continent of this planet, and I chose to land on the best-looking place. I think they'll choose the same spot.

They spent the whole rest of the day thinking what this was going to lead. At the end, they agreed to try to get them trust the xenos. How, they had no idea. It would be hard to get them accept xenomorphs living next to them, but Celeste promised to him that they would be safe. It would be even harder to get them believe that. He sighed.

"I think we should not just jump to them. I think, we should make it a game, to make us seem less dangerous."

_"What do you mean "a game"?" _

" Like this: we won't first show them that we are here, but leave small hints. Then, we would finally get them to know us, but not see us. Leave messages, for example. They couldn't just get scared of us: they are going to be curious and a bit skeptical, but not scared. We should proof them our good meanings. Like telling them where's the best places to build and where's most food. Then we could later, when they trust us enough, to tell them who we are. But it's just an idea." She smiled.

_"I think that's a much better idea. And funnier. But I still don't know... how are they going react when they are going to find out? "_

"We can't be sure so we just have to... find out I guess." They continued their conversation for a long time, during which he felt his feet to go numb. He had to stand up few times to stretch and walk around a little.

"So now there has been those lights for two days, right? So that means they are close already. It has to be also a huge ship, otherwise it would be already here. I think I should go and find out more about it with my own ship. I can scan it, at least." She nodded.

"_Eat something too, but don't take too much time. I'll send you your... "Guards". They'll catch you on the way."_

"Why are you now so eager me to go?"

"_I'm not, but why let it wait? And you really need to eat too. And tomorrow, you are going to get some exercise, you haven't done much else that sat here and talked with me." _That was true. He sighed.

"In that case, see you soon." _he said and left the chamber. She waved at him as he left. She had made a small lie, but she had to be alone for a moment. There had happened so much in just few days. And that... machine. Rick. She knew exactly what it had meant. Good time? Did it have feelings? Really? Because she knew that only one who had emotions could understand. She cursed her body. Why it had to emit her feelings around? And why did those... smells have to stick to Will? That thing, Rick had smelled it. She hoped that Will won't find out, not yet. Not that it was hard for her, but for him, it may become as a shock. And she had no idea how he would react. She had to make that machine shut its mouth, if it had one._

He arrived to the house. He had met the same two xenos half way to the house, and they had signed nothing, just began to follow him. He opened the door and Rick was already standing there.

"Hi. Any progress with the code?" he asked. It shook its head.

"No, but I did understand that it was some kind of file about something. It was no program, a file. It should be easy to decode. But it may take few days."

"Okay, also, what did you mean with that "good time"?"

"I'm not going to tell you. But it's a good thing, an a way, and a bad thing in another way. But trust me, it'll be mostly a good thing."

"Okay. I have to go and check one thing in the ship, and then I have to eat." It nodded and walked to the kitchen.

"You're free to do what you want, as long as you don't break anything." he said to the two xenos. They began immediately to look around and study what they hadn't been able to yesterday. He smiled and walked outside. He hadn't used the ship at all after he had finished his home. He opened the hangar door and stepped in. Yep. days with no use was visible. There was dust everywhere. He walked to the control panel and searched Scanner. He ran it and waited for its results. It beeped few times and then showed a picture of a large colony ship. Yes, they were coming. And by the look of its speed, at some time at the afternoon tomorrow. He didn't want to go and read its computer; that would cause some attention, something he didn't want to do right now. He sighed. They had to take care of it tomorrow, see what the people on it are like. This was exactly opposite what was in his mind when he left Earth. He read what else the scan had been able to find out; 750 humans on board, a lot of ships and machines, stuff like that. After he had read it all, he shut off the ship and went back to the house.

"What did you do there?" Rick asked from the kitchen.

"I have news for you: there's a ship coming. A colony ship." he answered. Rick looked out of the kitchen with a blank face.

"And how did you exactly plan to hide the xenos?"

"We're not going to hide. We are going to make friends."

"You really are mad, Will. But I help you if I have to. I just wonder how you are going to make them at least accept them..."

The food was, again, simple. And tasteless. He didn't complain though and left the house without saying a word. They hurried to the nest and when they arrived, Will continued to the main chamber. Celeste was again in her thoughts when he arrived but she noticed him this time.

_"Well? What did you find out?" _

_"_It is a ship. A colonizing ship. Meaning those people on it are coming here to stay. And there's about 700 humans on that ship."

_"When does it land? And where?" _

"Tomorrow afternoon, but I don't know exactly where. I still believe somewhere close to my landing spot. Good thing I moved my ship away." She nodded and then smiled.

"_I know that you don't want to have humans here, but I think they are different. There is no "country" in here to protect, there is no government either." _

_"_Thanks."

_"You're welcome."_

"So, tomorrow's going to be a busy day, huh? I think we both need a lot of energy for that."

_"Meaning... It's time to go sleeping. And you need it even more. Don't forget I'm going to make you exercise._

_"_And how are you going to do that? You're stuck here, don't you remember?"

_"I'm not going to look after you, but one of my daughters will." _

Oh. Well it was going to be interesting, at least. She lowered again, like before, to the "Lying" position on the floor. He smiled and then took off his clothes. This time he forgot to leave his shirt on, which she noticed immediately, but didn't mention it. He seemed to trust her enough to be almost naked in front of her, a thing she appreciated. He didn't even still notice anything strange and lied down next to her. He covered himself with the silky blanket she had made and thought about the situation. If someone had told him that he was going to sleep with a xenomorph Queen few years ago, that person would had got a punch. Just before he fell asleep he understood something: _He was wearing only his underwear._

**_Author's notes: _**Ok, a new chapter! I've got this again, fortunately, and there's going to be updates again! Just one thing: I need your opinion. Without them this feels like I'm writing to no one. Reviews! I need them to know what you think! Anyways, things are going to go down during the few next chapters, and I hope they don't go down too fast for you. I hope you have a good day!

_Hergotzer_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Spying_**

_"Humans fear everything they don't understand or know. When they do know what it is, it's no more scary." _

He woke up tired. How was that possible? Then he understood why: He had been wakened up by someone, and that someone was poking him. He opened his eyes and saw black filling his view.

"Hi Celeste. Why did you wake me up?" he asked and yawned. She half-smiled.

"_Because you are going to get up and going. Don't you remember what I said? This day is going to be hard one for you." _Oh, right. She wanted him to go out and exercise a bit. And she wanted that someone was there to make sure he did what had been told.

"Well I need to get some breakfast. I can't go just running around without food."

_"Then go on, I'll send one of my daughters after you." _She waved him to go. He smiled to her and left. He had memorized the way out already, but this time it felt a bit harder to find the exit. Finally he got out and looked up. The sun had barelyvisible behind the hills, and the sky was still dark. No stars though. He smiled. It was peaceful here. He hoped that those humans coming here wouldn't change that. _Oh no. Had I just said "Those humans" like I wasn't one? _Well, he did hate most of humankind, anyways. He looked up at the sky. Hopefully those people coming would change his opinion on humans.

"How was the night?" Rick's voice called out from the kitchen.

"Very nice thank you, but last time I checked my personal life wasn't your concern ." It seemed to enjoy something. It new something, he was surre of it.

"Rick, what are you keeping secret from me? I know you have found out something." It just hummed amused.

"It's funny, actually: You humans, I mean. You are so curious about everything. If you really have to know, I could say it to you, but that would just stop the fun. I think you'll figure it out yourself later." It flipped something on the pan.

"I have to know, okay? It's not fun to be kept in the dark, you know?" It frowned.

"Like you did to me? You didn't tell me about this... friendship." It pronounced the friendship weirdly, not skeptically, but more like meaning another word.

"Look, I'm sorry about that, but it just felt like I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Please?"

"Ok, but only after I get to the nest. Okay? You get me inside the nest, and I'll tell you the secret."

"But she still doesn't like you! And I won't take you there in secret."

"It's not my problem how you do it, I can wait."

"Why do you even want to get there?"

"I'm Weyland-Yutani's android! Even if I don't work to them anymore that doesn't mean I don't want to find out new things!"

His "companion" arrived just when he had finished eating. She seemed a little more bulkier than the others, but was still graceful.

"_You ready?" _she signed. He nodded and she left the house. He followed her. He saw her running towards the forest. He ran after her. When he reached the edge of the forest, he saw her nowhere. Had she vanished? He could swear she was here just as second ago. Suddenly she jumped down from the tree she had been hiding. He yelled and fell. She chuckled amused.

"Could you please not give me any heart attacks today?" he said after he had steadied his breathing. She shrugged and walked to the woods. Then she looked at him. _You coming? _her pose said. He sighed. What on earth did she have in her mind for today? Nothing humane, like her, he guessed. He followed her as she walked deeper and deeper to the forest and it began slowly turn into a jungle, and it was harder to move now. All the time there was a bush or wines in front on him, but she just pushed through. When they came to a clearing, he had to catch his breath for a moment. It had already worked as an exercise. He looked around; she was leaning to a tree and motioning him closer. When he was some meters away, she suddenly jumped and climbed up the tree. He looked at her; she had gone up in no time. She shook her head to follow her up there. She wanted him to climb up a tree? Was that her idea of exercising?

He sighed. He had no options, and Celeste wanted him to do this. He put his bag down and tried the trunk. It was good for climbing, having small overhangs here and there. But it still looked damn hard to climb up.

"Do you really want me to climb up there?" He shouted at her. She nodded and then sat on a branch to watch him struggle up. Like he had expected, it was hard. But not impossible. Bit by bit, he was able to climb up and get a grip of one of the branches. But she was sitting many meters farther. He already felt his muscles warming from the climbing. She had been right; he needed this. He continued his climbing until he was on the branch below her.

"_You are slow." _She said plainly as he finally forced himself on the same branch. It was a strange moment; they both sat on a branch of a huge tree, him resting and her looking at him studying.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked finally. Her studying pose was a bit weird. And more than once he could swear she took a bit longer look at his crotch.

"_I don't understand what Mother sees in you, that's all." _she signed at him. _What she saw in him? _

"What do you mean?"

"_Well, you are weak, slow and clearly not as wise as she is. And of course, you won't be able to protect her that well." _He felt offended, but she was right... in xeno-standards.

"If humans try to attack her, I can stop them by telling them not to. And I know that humans are one of the biggest threats to you." She nodded and then began climbing down. _Oh great. Now he had to climb back down. _He began slow, but soon found his confidence and was soon back on earth.

"I hope I don't have to do that again..." He said quietly as he felt his muscles heat burning. It wasn't that bad yet, but one or two times again and they would really hurt. And of course, that was exactly what she was planning. She made him climb another tree and come back down. It was effective though; he knew from the warmth that he was getting a lot of exercise. In a different way, but it was working. After the forth tree all of his limbs were aching.

"Can we have a break, please?" She considered it for a while before nodding. He lied down and let his tired muscled rest for a bit. He smiled. After all, he had liked it so far. Just him and the xeno, no hurry...

"What's your name, by the way? Or do you even have one?" She nodded and signed:

"_Other's call me "She Who Runs." _So they had those kinds of names. Wonder where Celeste got hers?

"Can I call you just Runner?" She nodded and then motioned him to stand up. He hesitantly did so and followed her after he had took his bag. They walked through the jungle until his kegs were burning again. They reached another clearing, this time bigger and with a large pond in the middle of it.

"Well? What am I supposed to do here?" She pointed at the ground.

"_Strip."_

"Excuse me?"

"_I presume you don't want to swim those clothes on, do you?" _Oh, so she wanted him to swim. He could do that. He was pretty good swimmer, he had almost won championship before he had left Earth.

"Wait a minute. I have no my swimming shorts with me!" he exclaimed. She grinned.

"_I know you humans well enough from Mother to know you like to swim some clothes on. Weird, but what can I do? I packed those "Swimming shorts" into your bag before we left."_ She pointed to his bag and then began walking towards the pond. He shrugged. He didn't want to swim right now, he was tired, but if Celeste had ordered her to order him to do this, he didn't want to anger her. Even if she was in one way his friend, he knew she had her furious side, too. He began taking his clothes off before noticing Runner glaring at him.

"Could you look away, Runner?"

"_Why? You don't like to me see you without clothes?" _She grinned and hummed amused.

"Yes. Could you?"

"_What if I don't?" _

"No, please. It would be too awkward for me. You know, this is taking just time. Turn around, okay?"

_"Why can't you just do it? I'm no human female, you don't need to worry." _He blushed at her. She sighed and slowly turned around while giggling. HE continued to undress and was soon naked. He quickly grabbed the shorts and began putting them on. Then he noticed she had in some point turned around and was again looking at him.

"Runner!"

_"Sorry, couldn't resist. But you do have one hell of a body. For a human." _She smiled and then swam further to the pond. He pulled the shorts on and tied them. Then he followed. The water was cool, but not too cold. He slowly walked deeper until his waist was touching water. He jumped forwards and dived. His body went first to a shock from the cold, but revived soon and he swam back to the surface. She was there already waiting.

"_Follow me." _she signed and swam deeper. He tried to follow her, but she was fast. When she stopped in the middle of the pond, she had to wait for him to catch her.

"You sure are fast. Are you sure your name isn't more like "She Who Swims"?"

"_Yes. I'm actually slower swimmer than others. Thanks." _He looked at her wide-eyed. If she was that fast, what were the others like?_  
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"Well, what are we supposed to do here?" he asked. She grinned and purred seductively. His eyes widened more than what they had been before.

"_Fun."_ He could feel the water current as her tail moved close to his hip.

"Oh, nonono!" He said quickly and swam away from her. She moved closer, like a predator creeping on its prey.

He turned and began swimming away. Fast. He knew he wouldn't be able to get away, but he had to try. Sure enough, soon he was pulled backwards by on powerful, four fingered hand. He shook it off and swam again. This time she pushed him towards the middle of the lake. He couldn't turn back, he knew that she was there. So he chose to try swim this way. And again, just when he was sure of his victory she turned him by pulling him by his hand. She was playing with him. She had been able to catch him any time. Maybe she was making him tired? He didn't care but continued. Two more times she turned him until he felt his limbs weighting tons. He was ready to surrender but this time, she didn't turn him. He got to the shore and stood up, but collapsed immediately. He turned towards her. She was looking at him from the water. She stood up and smiled.

"_Sorry, but you wouldn't had lasted it if you hadn't had a reason." _

"What?"

"_You never were in danger, no! I just tricked you. I have to say, I had some problems catching you twice. You wouldn't had lasted with the muscles you have if I hadn't given you a reason to be quick. What scaring people can do..." _He relaxed a little.

"You know, you could have just asked me."

"_I know, but this way was much funnier!"_

"Not for me."

_"Don't feel insulted, but I honestly don't care. You never were in danger, quite opposite exactly. Mother told me to protect you, by my life if I have to." _He stared at him. Celeste had ordered her to do _what_? He had to ask about this when he got back to the Nest. None of her daughters should be in danger because of him. He sighed and walked back to his clothes and dried himself with his shirt. Not that he needed it anyways here, it was so hot. Runner came from the pond and began walking back to the woods immediately. He grabbed his stuff and followed her. They walked a lot longer this time, and he felt the adrenaline fading, and his muscles started to burn. Then, he saw how the jungle was changing back to something more like an usual forest and also he began noticing familiar things. Finally they arrived back to the nest's opening.

_"Well, I had fun there. Care to call me if you want to do it again sometime?" _she signed and tilted her head cutely. Who could hate that face? ... Okay, no sane man would say a xenomorph cute. Maybe it was because usually the xenos were ready to slaughter them.

"Maybe, but if I some day do need some more exercise, I know what to expect."

"_You really think I have just two tricks?" _she said and ran inside the nest with a swipe of her tail. He sighed. At least it was over, and his feet were aching and burning. Hope Celeste had something for it...

He arrived to the chamber quickly. She was playing with something glowing.

"I'm back, Celeste. What do you have there?" he said and pointed at the object.

"_You forgot this here, and I... well, I hope I didn't break it. It one side of it began to glow when I grabbed it." _She revealed the object. It was his multitool, and it had some scratches all around it, but it didn't seem damaged. She gave it to him.

"This is multitool. It's something we use in many things. It can radiate heat to keep us warm, or we can compensate that heat to cook or use it as a weapon. It has a flashlight, computer, phone, basic fixing tools, map, small storage and many other things. Most of them are pretty much useless. The glowing side, what you triggered, is the screen of the computer." She cooed puzzled. _This is going to take long... _

And it did. He didn't know how long, but after more than an hour, she finally grasped the meaning of "computer" and "screen". She seemed totally intrigued of the multitool, and he let her keep it. He had more of them anyways. And it was hard to break, anyways. He had once dropped one accidentally from a helicopter, and it had survived. She thanked him and put the device somewhere behind her.

"Where do you keep it? Somewhere behind you, I see that, but where, exactly? You took the... blanket you made for me there too."

"_There's a small hole there, where I keep my things. You could say it's my personal "locker"." _He nodded and then remembered the humans.

"Any news of the ship?" She nodded.

"_I was going to get into that. It has landed. We saw it to come down from the sky some hundred kilometers west." _

"But it's important! Why didn't you tell me?"

"_We don't have to hurry, do we? I don't think they are going to leave soon." _He understood how stupid he had sounded.

"I'm sorry. I'm just... a bit tensed. So many things can go wrong here." She hummed and smiled. She then quickly pulled him closer and hugged him. He was first surprised but then returned the hug. She gently lifted him from the ground and then hugged him with her smaller arms too. Will felt already better and more relaxed. He suddenly understood her intentions.

"You wanted to calm me, right?" She purred positively.

"Well, you succeeded." She hugged him closer and nuzzled her head onto his shoulder. They kept there for a moment before she end the embrace and lowered him down. There was an awkward silence between them. Before, it had been just friendly hug, now... it had felt a bit more. Not much, but a little. He had to clear his thoughts, though.

"Ok. I have to go and see them, so I can tell what we do next. I'm not liking this, but I have to go and see them. I may have to take some friends, so you can see the humans too." She nodded and then looked up to send the message. He had found out already that the xenos used some kind of telepathy to communicate with each other, and Celeste was able to talk to all of her children, however far they were. It worked other way around, too. Her children were able to talk to her and send images of what they were seeing. Will turned to leave, but heard Celeste hum in a way what told him to wait. He turned to see her again.

"_Please come back alive." _she signed. He smirked.

"I don't think they'll be able to see me. And if they do, I doubt they will outright start shooting." She nodded and then waved to him to leave. He walked out of the chamber and almost hit two xenos. They made a giggle-like and backed off. Will barely recognized the other xeno.

"Runner! Didn't think I would see you so soon." She smiled.

_"Neither did I. Mother told me and my sister here to come with you." _She nodded towards the other xenomorph. She was a little smaller, but had much more spiky form.

"What's your name, then?" he asked her.

"_Others call me She Who Sees, but She Who Runs already told me that you seem to like shorter names, so you can call me Seer." _He nodded.

"My name's Will. Nice to meet you, Seer. She smiled shyly. She seemed to be shy anyways; she had almost shook when she had signed to him. They began walking to the exit. Will slowly walked next to Runner, who turned at him.

"What's up with Seer? She seems nervous." He hadn't even thought xenos could feel fear.

"_She's very young, and this is her first time outside. I think the older sisters have told her something scary about what is waiting outside." _He nodded.

"There's nothing dangerous out there. I lived there for a year, almost alone all the time. I doubt we meet any problems." he said to Runner but spoke intentionally loud so Seer could calm. He glanced at the other xeno, which had clearly become more relaxed. He smiled and focused to the mission. They were going to take his hover bike and get to the landing area and hide somewhere where they were going to see the colonists well. They then would try to get one of their tablets and see what kind of people they were, and get back to the nest. He went through all the little details in his head as they neared his home.

"Well? What are you going to do with the ship that landed?" Rick asked as he opened the door. The android had a bad habit to stand in front of the door waiting for him.

"None of your business. We are going to get there and try to find out who they are. Nothing more." he said and pushed it away. It frowned and went to the kitchen. It brought a meal with some "chicken" (he had no idea what it really was, and wasn't going to ask.) , potatoes and some salad. After he had begun eating it brought two large lumps of meat to the two xenos. They both looked at the food suspiciously.

"You don't need to worry, it's not poisonous or dangerous in any way. I just don't know what kind of meat you like." Rick said and then left the kitchen. Runner and Seer both looked at him with questioning faces.

"You can eat it, I trust Rick." They smiled and began eating. Will tried not to watch. He finished just mere seconds before the xenos, who seemed to have liked the meal. When Rick came to take the dishes, both of the xenos jumped on him and nuzzled him while they purred. The android looked helplessly at Will.

"They are just thanking you, I think." It nodded and then tried to slowly get the dishes while trying not to fall. Finally the xenos backed away. If it had been able to, Rick would had sighed.

"Okay, I guess we are going now, then. hmm... Should we take Rick with us, girls?" he asked. They both nodded and then turned at the android. It looked around like hoping there was a another Rick which they meant. Then it looked down.

"I come but only because you order me to. And could you keep those two away from me? My parts could malfunction." He grinned. He nodded and then left the house xenos behind him and Rick behind them.

"You can do whatever you want, but try not to break Rick, okay?" he said so quiet Rick was unable to hear him. Runner grinned and nodded. They got to the back of the house, where his old hover bike was laying. It was using still usual hover-blades, when the newer models had all those fancy anti-gravity gyros. He hopped on it, Rick behind him and then slowly Runner and Seer climbed on it. He turned the motors on, which after some roaring steadied and then became silent. He smiled. Behind him Rick was using that "emotionless face" while Runner and Seer were looking down bot amazed and scared.

"I'm going to get going, now, so don't be surprised! The first time is always the scariest." He said to them and then pushed the steering wheel forwards. The Hover bike accelerated and soon they were skipping over the landscape. He looked back; Runner seemed only amazed now, while Seer seemed to be grasping the bike with all of her power. He had to try fix the bike after this. He looked back to the wheel; there was a small screen in it, which displayed a map. He touched the screen few times and it began showing the way to the landing area. It would take at least an hour t get there.

About half-way there, Seer had got rid of the fear and had began playing with Rick, which didn't seem too much intrigued with the idea. Soon Runner joined and Rick was all the time trying to get away from them. Not that it was able to move much.

"Could you do something?" It asked him over the passing wind.

"You think I can do anything for that at the moment? You just have to take it." he said and tried to hide his smile.

After about fifteen minutes the xenos got bored and began talking telepathically.

"What are they doing? They just... stare at each other." Rick asked.

"They don't use sign language when talking to each other; they use telepathy." Rick nodded and became silent once again. After some more minutes of flying it asked:

"You still haven't got me a way inside the nest?"

"No. And I bet you won't tell me this "Secret" of yours without me getting you in, don't you?"

"Nope." He sighed. If Rick, an emotionless robot, could get excited of something, then it was something big.

"What about the data I got you from the alien... thingy?"

"Not much progress. Their language is nothing seen on Earth, so it may take a lot of time for me to find out how it works. But it is advancing. Slowly, but it is doing so." He looked back to the screen. They were just some kilometers away.

"I think we should stop here. Their radars may pick us if we get too close." He slowed down and then landed. They jumped off and then continued on foot. They were silent all the way: They had no idea how far they actually were. Will hadn't been able to use scanner; they would had been seen. After about an hour of walking, they noticed the top of the ship looming over the treetops of the forest in front of them. The continued on, until they saw the landing area; the massive ship had landed in a huge clearing in the middle of the forest. They hid behind a large bush which seemed to grow all along the place. They studied the ship. It's crew was outside of it, unpacking and moving large crates. They all wore the usual worker's clothes: Orange jackets, blue pants, helmets and protective gloves. He searched for any tablets left unguarded. Soon, he saw one on a table at the edge of the site, just some tens of meters away.

"Seer, see that black-and white flat thing over there?" He pointed at the tablet. She nodded when she saw the device.

"I'm going to need it. I'm not that sneaky, so you I thought you could get it. Just get close enough, snatch it and get back. If you somebody sees you, run back here. I doubt they are going to follow you." She nodded nervously.

"Hey, I promise it'll go fine. You are built to be invisible." She nods and slowly creeps towards the table. When she is just close enough, she quickly takes the tablet and runs back to them bend down. She gets back to them unnoticed.

"Good work, Seer! Now, let's get back to the bike." he said and slowly walked back to the forest. When they got far enough, they finally relaxed and began walking normally. They still didn't say anything, though. Only when they got to the hover bike Runner asked:

"_What is that thing you wanted to get? It's too small to be anything useful..." _

"Nope, it is very useful. There's not enough time to explain it all, but this small device, tablet, can answer almost any question about those humans we ask it." She looked at the device skeptically. They jumped on the bike and left before they were seen. The journey back was very similar to the journey to the ship. The two xenos "played" with Rick, which seemed to want to shut himself down. He couldn't do much, he was too focused on driving and thinking what the colonists will be like. Finally, after just a little less than an hour they were back. Rick jumped off before he was even able to land.

"Keep those things away from me! I can already feel some of my rotors and wires getting old!" it said and ran inside the house. Some weird glitch in it got it so humane sometimes that he could almost say the android had some kind of a soul. _Almost. _He landed the bike and let the xenos embark before he did. He smiled. He had to get back here again this day, but now, he had to go and tell Celeste that he wasn't dead. He sighed. She seemed to be so overprotective of him sometimes, always fearing he would get hurt. He wasn't weak. Okay, for xenomorph standards, he was a weakling. But he was a strong, clever human. She had to remember that being human doesn't mean immediately that you are weak, unable to defend yourself._  
><em>

He waited for Runner and Seer to be ready and then began pacing towards the forest. The nest felt already more like a home than the house he built. And for family... Well, he couldn't say all of Celeste's children were his friends, he hadn't even properly met but two! But Celeste... She was a friend. _And maybe a bit more. _He shook his head. His mind was playing with him again. She was a close friend. Like a... cousin? No, too far. Not a sister nor mother... He stopped thinking about it. _She's my friend. Period._ He looked around himself; it was slowly coming darker, and he could hear different noises around him. In the evenings, the forest always came alive. He stared at the place around him; there was all kinds of plant life around him, and here and there he could see small animals trying to find food. There was a small wind which made the leaves of the trees flap. this planet was so untouched by humans. He hoped it would stay like this for a long time.

They arrived to the nest and walked in. He had missed the familiar warmth and darkness of the nest. It felt safe here. He and the two xenos walked together before parting ways. He continued towards the main chamber. Celeste was hanging from the wall like usual, but something was clearly concerning her.

"I'm back. What's wrong?" She looked up and smiled.

"_Nothing to worry about. Good that you came, I was getting worried." _He smirked.

"You get worried about me too easy. Relax a little, I'm not helpless."

_I know, but if you... died, I wouldn't have anyone. I would have my daughters, true, but that' not a same thing!"_

"I don't like it when you worry about me. You're hurting yourself because of me then, and I don't want to hurt you, okay? So could you please stop worrying?" She nodded and smiled.

"_Well, you are here now. What did you find out?" _

"I didn't study it yet. You know already where they are and what happened, they shared it to you already I believe. Thought you would like to be the first ones with me to find out what they are doing." he said and powered the tablet. It lit up and after some seconds asked for a password. He grinned. _Not going to stop me. _He took the new multitool which he had took from his house and plugged it in. **Unknown device found. Set function. **He ran the virus program, and in few seconds, he was in. Too easy. He began browsing the files. Nothing useful really was in there. There was just some things which proofed his suspicion; they were colonists. Their ship's scanner had found this planet and set its course here. Then it had landed. They had begun unloading and building the first infrastructures. He was reading the tablet's former owner's personal files when a popup showed up. A chatting app. He quickly used the multitool's settings to disable the tablet's navigator. Now they wouldn't be able to track the signal. Then he opened the popup.

Jack: _Wait what? I thought you lost you Commutron. Where was it?_

He looked at Celeste. She motioned him to answer. He sighed. _Let's start._

I: _He did lost it.  
><em>Nothing happens.

Jack: _Who is this?  
><em>Will thought. He didn't want to tell their names yet, but they had to call them something.

I: _There's two of us. You can call us He and She._

Jack: _And I'm talking with..?_

I: _He. She's next to me. Hello._

Jack: _Ok, Tal, stop this playing, I'm not amused._

I: _This is not a game. You are not the first intelligent beings who has landed on this planet. What do you call it?_

Jack: _Am I talking with an alien? _

I: _You are talking with something unknown. That much I'm ready to tell you. I have disabled this"Commutron"'s navigator and tracking devices. You can't find it. I would like to talk to the leading person of your colony._

Jack: _You're talking with him._

I: _Oh. Well, this was fortunate. I have to ask you, what are your intentions on this planet? Colonize it of course, but anything else?_

Jack: _Why should I tell you? I know nothing of you. You may even attack us, as far as I know. Why should I trust you?__  
><em>

I: _Ok, so: I'm able to interstellar travelling, meaning we are at least as advanced as you. I know a lot of humans. We can help you, if you want us to proof our trustworthiness._

Jack: _H__ow could you help us?_

I: _You tell me. I don't know what you need._

Jack: _We are having issues with the area we landed at. Can you give us a hard, plain area where to land and start our colony? It would be better if it's close to water._

I: _Who said we wanted you to live here?_

Jack: _We have come here to stay. You have problems with that then tell me._

I: _"SIGH" There is going to be conflicts, what conflicts, that's on you. We are going to help you and keep our eyes (IF we had ones) on you. Remember, you are being followed. But you are in no danger as long as you don't threaten us._

Jack: _Okay. So the landing area?  
><em>Will looked at Celeste.

"Where is a large plain with some water close by?"

_"About 150 kilometers east from their ship. There is a half-circle shaped island in the lake." _He repeated the instructions to "Jack".

Jack: _Thanks. Now we hope it's not a trap, or we have to use force._

I: _Don't worry. You are in no danger. But you are being watched. And also, the Thanks belong to Her. She knows this planet better than anyone, I believe._

Jack: _I'm believing you don't want problems because of my family. They did this to start anew. And I'm going to offer them the new life they want.__  
><em>

I:_ How big is your family?_

Jack: _The whole colony._

I: _Oh, you meant that._

Jack:_ Why can't you just show yourselves? That would help us to trust you._

I: _believe me, it won't. If even only one of you sees us, he or she would get a heart attack. We are not proud of our fame. We want to show you first that we are to be trusted. If we would show ourselves right now, you would attack us. And we would have to defend ourselves. There would be useless blood spilling._

Jack: _I think I can see your point here. You are scary looking, and you don't want to scare us. But you said you have "fame". Do we know you?_

I: _You don't know us personally, but you would recognize our species, yes. And that's exactly why we don't want to show ourselves yet._

Jack: _I'm going to tell about this to the others, ok? I'm going to ask do they want to trust you. I would like to, but I don't know who you are yet._

I: _Good. You ask for their opinion. That's something a good leader does.  
><em>Celeste had told Will to write the last message._  
><em>

"But you don't ask their opinion, don't you? There's monarchy here, if I remember correctly."

_"Our "Monarchy" Is different: I may have the most power, but my children tell me what they think of it. There is so many of them that when they are together, they are wise, wiser than me or anyone." _He nodded. It made sense, in a way; Celeste made decisions, and her daughters were the ones who then said their opinion. They don't choose, but they can say if it's a good idea or bad.

"_Could you teach me to write? I would like to... talk with this "Jack" myself in one point." _

"Okay, but later."

_"I'll remember your promise." _He returned to the chat.

I: _When did you leave Earth? I don't remember seeing that model before.__  
><em>

Jack: _About half a year ago. There was some huge progress in interstellar travel. Now we can make ships able to move 7 times the speed of light._

I: _Wow... things really have changed._

Jack: _Could you tell me more bout you? Like, She and You?  
><em>

I: _Well, what can I tell? She's just more than a year old, where I'm already 27. We're different species, and that explains why she's at least twice my size._

Jack: _Wait, you're different species? Are you both then so scary that neither of you can show up?_

I: _No, I'm not scary, but if you saw me, you could be... shocked._

Jack: _What about you two? Are you some kinds of... friends? Or is there something else going on there, wherever you are.  
><em>Will frowned.

"_Well?" _she asked him and nudged him.

I: _Were friends. We met just mere days ago, but I can already call Her a friend. I hope you can call her your friend too some day._

Jack: _It took you some time before you began writing that. You're not sure, aren't you? Hey, we humans have found already few advanced alien species, and, well, interspecies relationships have happened. Once we would have killed those kinds of people, but we have gone over it already. You should learn from us._

I: _When did this discussion turn to this?  
><em>Will turned the screen so that Celeste wasn't able to see it. He didn't want to talk about this right now. The Queen didn't even flinch. She just smiled widely.

"_I saw already. And I'm not going to interfere. Take your time." _

Jack: _Oh come on, I've felt love too! I know how it feels. Let me ask you this: How do you feel around Her? Do you want to be with Her as much as possible?_

I: _I don't want to talk about this. Yes, I like to be with Her, but that's because She's my friend.  
><em>He gulped. But he did feel a little bit too peaceful with her. He had had a crush once, so he had a faint idea of what love felt like. He decided to think about that later.

Jack: _Whatever. I'll let you clear it out yourself. The others wanted to trust you, and we are preparing to lift off. _

I: _Well you're fast. _

Jack: _Yeah. I have to end here, I have to go eat something, haven't eaten anything today yet. And I have a bunch of people there waiting for me, so..._

I: _I think I have to end too. My stomach's protesting... Well, Do we "see" today again?_

Jack: _I doubt it. I have a lot of work, and if your place is really good enough, then I have even more job to do. We have a deadline here. We can't live in the ship for too long. _

I: _Ok. Night, I guess. _  
>The app closed itself. He sighed.<p>

"Is that place good?"

_"Yes. We used it to train, for it had so flat surface, and some water close by if we became thirsty. It should be good for them too." _

_"_Well, I suppose I have to go again. I'm getting hungry."

_"Ok. And about that... discussion. What do you actually feel towards me?" _He couldn't say.

"I'm not sure." Then he walked off. He navigated through the maze and got outside. His limbs were still aching a little, but it had ceased enough. He began walking towards the direction his house was. When he got to it, the lights were off. He walked to the kitchen, where there was a plate with some soup and a message.

_I think those two broke something, so I had to go and get myself fixed. It may take some time, so I made you this so you don't need to do it yourself._

_Rick_

He smiled and sat to eat. The android had became better at cooking, but there was still that artificial feel in it. But it was good. It had somehow stayed warm, maybe It had heated it so much it hadn't cooled off yet? _Oh well. _While he sipped the soup, he thought about him and Celeste. After a while of comparing the feelings he had felt so long ago with the ones he was feeling right now, he became to only one conclusion. _I have a crush on Celeste. _He hadn't thought it like that, because, well, it was just so... unbelievable. He sighed. Not that he would go and overreact. He had grown an ability to get over these kinds of things easily. When he had lost his mother, he had of course cried and felt sad, but he had became as normal as possible again after a day or two. He sighed. He knew that there had been actually a law stating interspecies relationships legal, but it hadn't got any use.

He finished the meal and shut off the lights. He wrote thanks t the paper Rich had left its message and shut the lights. After that he left the house. The way back felt a lot longer this time. He was already thinking how she would react. _But she likes you too. Isn't it clear? _He slept with her, true. And she seemed to like to hug him. And, well, always when he was with her, she seemed to be happy. _Why does these things keep happening to me?_ Finally he reached the Nest. He took a deep breath and stepped in._  
><em>

_"Well? I would like to hear you say it." _

"You know?"

"_I can smell it from you. You're in love. And when you consider the fact I'm the only one you keep being with, it's pretty easy to understand the situation." _

"Okay... I think I'm in love. And I love you." he said plainly. he had found out that just saying things out, not being afraid of them helped a lot. Celeste smiled widely and purred.

"_And I love you." _He looked at her dumbstruck.

"_I just didn't want to tell you, I didn't know what would happen." _

"I..." he uttered, speechless. She now began humming too. She reached for him pulled him closer. He didn't know what to do at the moment.

"_I won't push you, I'll let you sort it out yourself. But I want just one thing right now." _

"What?"

"_Well, I want the most a kiss, but I think that's too much asked from you. But you won't get away without a hug." _With that, she hugged him. Only now he was finally able to recognize the feelings she put in the hug: Deep affection, happiness and love. He, after a while, finally returned the embrace. He felt happy too; like a wall had been broken inside him. But he had to get used to this. One doesn't just jump into this, not even he. He was still a little shocked from the fact she actually loved him. He didn't know how long it lasted, but in some point, she had made him lie down. She had put the silky blanket she had made on him and he had fallen asleep, still hugging her closely. Neither of them noticed the other xenos of the nest staring at them.

**_Author's notes:_**Well, it finally happened. Not sure if I'm happy how I did it, I may change the end of this chapter later. And OH WOOOW. This chapter... And its whopping 7,400 words... My record. Anyways, I've settled in so that I write Nest Life and Deep in Minds in turns, meaning after this chapter I write on chap of DiM and then one chap of this. Also, two things: Because it's close to Christmas, I may have less time to write. I know, but I have a lot of things to do. And I go to a trip to Thailand 2nd of January and I'm going to be there for two weeks, so no writing during that. _Sigh. _So much things to do...

_**REVIEW**_

_Hergotzer_


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